Manchester United captaincy does not justify Wayne Rooney's starting berth anymore

Will Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal drop Wayne Rooney to the bench for his poor form?

The debate surrounding Wayne Rooney’s worth as a starter for Manchester United and England is, in many respects, difficult to fathom. The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson, for instance, noted that Rooney led his side into last weekend’s Manchester Derby as the highest scoring 30-year-old in the history of the Premier League.

Rooney’s 236 career goal tally for the Red Devils leaves him only one short of Denis Law and 13 away from equalling Sir Bobby Charlton’s club-record 249. He is also his club’s top-scorer this season with seven goals and less than a month has passed since he supplanted Charlton as England’s all-time leading scorer.

In this context, one could perhaps forgive Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal for refusing to answer any questions on his captain in the aftermath of his side’s 0-0 draw against Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday.

“I am sick of them,” he stated.

Sitting on top of that tree now Wazza.. The big 50 !! ð??ð?¼ð??ð?¼ Never in doubt... Well done mate. It's the stuff of dreams. @WayneRooney

— Michael Carrick (@carras16) September 8, 2015

Numbers support argument to drop Rooney

The difficulty with justifying Rooney’s continued presence in United’s starting side with reference to these records, as those who play fantasy football will tell you, is the fact that they are rooted in the past. It is notable, for instance, that three of Rooney’s seven club goals this season came in the second leg of United’s Champions League play-off tie against Club Brugge.

While those goals were important, it has to be acknowledged that that they were scored against a side currently ranked sixth in the Belgian Pro League. Indeed, Rooney had previously gone 878 minutes without scoring for his club.

After Brugge, the only other goals Rooney has managed this term came against Ipswich in the League Cup and against Sunderland and Everton in the Premier League. The Liverpudlian’s strike against his old club marked the occasion of his first league goal away from home in 11 months.

17 - Wayne Rooney has netted his first PL away goal since November 2014, ending a run of 17 games without one. Relief.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 17, 2015

Clearly this is not form befitting of a player starting as a centre-forward at a club of United’s status and ambition. And no performance illustrated the extent of Rooney’s decline more painfully than the Manchester Derby last weekend.

Rooney was United’s worst performer on the pitch in the Manchester Derby

Despite playing the full 90 minutes, Opta stats say Rooney had fewer touches of the ball (50) than any United player who started the match (even Juan Mata managed two more in 66 minutes), he lost possession more times than he retained it (28; more than any other player), he completed only 55% of his passes and managed only one shot in the entire match which, incidentally, went off-target.

0 - Man Utd failed to muster a single shot in the 1st half of a PL game for the first time since 03/04 (including blocked). Meek.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 25, 2015

55% passing accuracy for Wayne Rooney. No shots on target. No chances created. Lost possession five more times than any other player.

— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) October 25, 2015

Will Louis van Gaal drop Rooney?

It is thus becoming increasingly apparent that Rooney no longer possesses the athleticism required to be effective as a starting centre-forward at the elite level of the European game.

None of this should come as a surprise, of course. The player just turned 30 last week and his record of having played 677 senior-level matches for club and country since bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old at Everton means that he already has a full career under his belt. Andriy Shevchenko, for instance, retired at 36 with 557 senior appearances to his name having made his Dynamo Kiev debut at 17.

Time to play Anthony Martial and Memphis Depay in their preferred roles?

The onus is now on Van Gaal to live up to his reputation as one of the most ruthless managers in the sport by dropping his captain in favour of Anthony Martial as a centre-forward and by reintroducing the Netherlands winger Memphis Depay on the left-wing.

At 19 and 21, these are players capable of emulating the young Rooney by restoring pace and directness to the United frontline.

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